Three cows idling on an airport runway in Gorontalo caused a Lion Air jet carrying 110 people to skid off of the landing strip, a report issued Wednesday said.

The plane, which was arriving in Gorontalo from Jakarta, proceeded to slide off the landing strip while touching down at Jalaluddin airport at around 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

Iwan Permadi, the pilot of the plane, told the Antara news agency that as he was landing on the runway, he saw animals walking on it.

He said he thought there were dogs in front of the plane as it came into land, “but it turned out there were three cows wandering in the middle of the runway.”

The plan proceeded to skid off the runway, but “fortunately, the ground near the runway was wet and muddy, and the airplane was able to come to a stop. The atmosphere in the cabin was under control, although there was some smoke present,” Iwan said.

No casualties were reported after the incident, but Iwan added that some of the passengers exited through the emergency doors and windows before the pilot gave official instructions to evacuate the airplane which led to two of them spraining their legs.

One cow, however, was crushed to death under one of the Boeing 737-900′s middle wheels, head of Jalaluddin airport Agus Pramuka told AFP.

Iwan said he could smell “burning meat” as the jet ran over the animal.

The plane had started its journey in Jakarta and also had a stopover in Makassar, on Sulawesi, according to local media.

The airport was closed following the incident, disrupting travel plans for people heading home for the Idul Fitri holiday.

One small jet managed to take off Wednesday, but the Lion Air plane was still at the edge of the runway, Pramuka said.

Indonesia, which relies heavily on air transport to connect its more than 17,000 islands, has one of Asia’s worst aviation safety records.

In April, a Lion Air passenger jet carrying 108 people crashed into the sea after missing the runway as it came into land on the resort island of Bali. No one died but dozens were injured.

AFP 7/7/2013

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